Thanksgiving Jive

Just a little Thanksgiving dancing to the Charlie Brown theme song to give you a good laugh and brighten your holidays! Enjoy!!!

A Humble Thanksgiving

Due to a last minute change of plans, we celebrated our first Thanksgiving in our new home with just the three of us! It was a little quiet, but it turned out quite nicely. We relaxed all day, and I cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner on my own for the first time! This gave me the opportunity to try out some new recipes. The turkey turned out awesome!!! It looked and tasted great! It was Giada's "citrus" version from "Everyday Italian" and was stuffed with orange and lemon slices...It's definitely a keeper. In keeping with that theme I tried a new sweet potato recipe from my Cuisine magazine. You bake the sweet potatoes, then hollow out some oranges, and mix the sweet potato puree with some orange juice, fresh pineapple, and a few other things. Stuff it all back into the oranges, then you bake them and candy some pecans for the topping! They were delicious!!! Yum...I'll definitely be doing those again! I tried a fruit salad with some fresh cranberries that turned out WAY too tart--even with the added sugar!!! Neither me nor Anthony will ever turn down any fruit, but WE couldn't even eat much of it!!! We ended up having to throw most of it out!!! Won't be making that one again! We also had some home made yeast rolls, some lima beans, and for dessert, of course a home made pumpkin pie! For some reason, the filling took FOREVER to set, so by the time it was ready, the crust was a little chewy. It tasted amazing with the home made whip cream, and the crust was flaky, but the texture just made you want to scrape off the filling and leave the crust on your plate! Bummer, because usually the crust is the best part!!! I tried a crust from one recipe and the filling from a different one, so I'm thinking maybe the two just weren't compatible? I'll try again, as it was my first time making pie crust from scratch! Let me know if anyone has a good but easy recipe for home made pumpkin pie.

Here's Anthony at lunch time chowing down on some toasted bread with a veggie spread! Can you tell he enjoyed it?

Here's our Thanksgiving dinner...wish I had taken some close up pics of the food so you all could see my handiwork! But we were starving, so I'm sure that's why we didn't!!!

Anyway, hope the rest of you had a Happy Thanksgiving as well!!!

Anthony Helps with Yardwork

We were doing a little yardwork a few weeks ago...raking leaves and trimming the trees. As you can see below, Anthony was a very big helper with the rake!

Believe me, I plan to take full advantage of his helpful spirit once Lucas gets here!!!

I'm Cool!

Just chillin' wit my homie Bear-Bear

Oh Yeah!
Momma's shades are da bomb!!!

Cousins Playing Together

Anthony had fun "showing James the ropes" regarding all the toys on his exersaucer.

Note the look of concern on James' face!

Okay, that's the look of full-blown panic--"Stop, Anthony! You're going to break it!"
(He was being a little rough with it!)

I just love how sweet these boys play together!

Here's a quick movie of Anthony playing on James' swingset...I think he liked it!

Anthony's First Trip to the Zoo

Well, Anthony and I ventured off to Memphis on our own in early November. We flew one way on Southwest Airlines. Mario had to work during the week and had a friend's wedding he was a groomsman in over the weekend up in North Carolina, so we decided it was a good time for me and Anthony to visit my family, and he could pick us up on the way home. Of course, I was a little daunted by the task before me...navigating an airport while being about 8 months pregnant with an active toddler in tow. All in all, the trip went very smoothly. Anthony did excellent both in the airport and on the plane (we made sure we had lots of snacks!). We did use a "backpack" Anthony received from his MeMe. It came in very handy. It is a bear that straps on his back, and this bear has a loooooong tail that Mommy can hold onto. Anthony is very obedient, and I don't think he would have run off. However, while being pregnant and having my hands full of luggage at times, the bear backpack definitely provided some peace of mind!!! We also used the backpack during our trip to the zoo (see pics below). We went to the zoo the next morning after we arrived...It was Anthony's first time. Our little bear backpack came in handy once again, as Anthony had some freedom to roam around while remaining within reach!

Anthony watching the planes and trucks before we boarded the plane

Anthony and MeMe

Anthony LOVES animals...he's watching the monkeys swing

I think Anthony enjoyed watching the waterfalls and kicking the dried leaves just as much as he enjoyed seeing the animals!!!

My nephew James enjoyed watching the waterfalls too!

Anthony and MeMe watching more monkeys

Anthony and Mommy saying hi to the giraffes

You can't really tell, but Anthony is sitting on a big rock watching the huge iguana through the glass

Oh, THERE'S the iguana!!!

Anthony and Mommy...my sweet boy!

We enjoyed the indoor area with the reptiles because it was so warm...even the rock was warm.

Outside was getting awful chilly!

Cute smile from my nephew James

Anthony and MeMe both loved the penguins

The only animal I think he would've enjoyed that he didn't get to see is the elephant. He was already inside eating his dinner! Oh well! We have something to look forward to on the next trip!

Sisters Melanie and Mandy

Cousins Anthony and James

We had fun!!!

We'll have to come back when the weather warms up!!!

Pregnancy Progress

30 weeks


33 weeks